Wall Street roared higher Friday as confidence was lifted by news of the US government's broad assault on the financial crisis including a plan to save banks drowning in toxic mortgage debt.
A new ban on stock short sales to curb speculation and a Treasury plan to insure money market funds also helped calm nervous traders and ease the risk of financial meltdown.
Amid a powerful global equity rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 368.75 points (3.35 percent) to close at 11,388.44.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq vaulted 74.80 points (3.40 percent) to 2,273.90 and the broad Standard & Poor's 500 index lifted 48.57 points (4.03 percent) to 1,255.08.
It was the second big rally for Wall Street in two days and came at the end of a tumultuous week for global markets that saw wild swings as the mood shifted from fear to euphoria.
Despite unprecedented volatility, the Dow ended the week with just a modest loss of 0.29 percent while the Nasdaq and S&P posted modest weekly gains.